


The Prince's Gift

by exclamation



Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Politics, Slow Build, Stranded, Terrorism, fallen through the rift, rifts in the universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 00:28:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10888095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exclamation/pseuds/exclamation
Summary: It seems that there are rifts in space-time at Coal Hill Academy. Matteusz discovered this when he stumbled through one of them and found himself stranded on the opposite side of the universe. Given as a gift to the Prince of Rhodia as an exotic pet, Matteusz must convince the prince that he is a person not an animal, but that's just the first of his problems. Life in the palace of Rhodia is not as peaceful as it first seems and Matteusz may end up caught in the middle of a conflict between the Quill people and the Rhodian royalty.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have recently come across The Class from the BBC and instantly fell in love with this show. This is an AU in which Matteusz fell through a rift prior to the fall of Rhodia. 
> 
> There will be a relationship between Matteusz and Charlie, but it will be slow build. There will not be any non-con in this story.

It turned out that there were rips in the fabric of space-time that opened up doorways between one part of the galaxy and another part, far distant. Matteusz might have been fascinated to learn this if he'd found out by a method other than stumbling through one of this rips as he walked between maths and physics classes. He'd ended up on a space station that had been built around a conglomeration of these rips so that a group of scavengers could catch whatever fell through and make a profit on it. 

Matteusz didn't want to be made a profit of. He tried to reason with these... people... but they found him amusing more than anything and thought that a primitive from a world that hadn't discovered interstellar flight couldn't be intelligent enough to count as a person. They treated him like an amusing animal. Matteusz had no idea how it was that he understood their language, but they seemed to treat his attempts at making conversation as a human might treat a parrot repeating phrases. After a while, they got tired of him talking and fixed a sticky panel over his mouth that fused together like a second skin, removing any ability to make intelligible words. They cuffed his hands behind him after he attempted to force the lock of the little cell they'd shoved him in, and then decided that keeping him around was going to involve too much effort, especially if they wanted to keep him 'undamaged'. 

Matteusz didn't want to think about what someone else might do to him. At least these people cared enough about keeping him unbruised and free from injury, even if it was just because they wanted to get a better price for him. Matteusz wondered if the aliens in this part of the galaxy had the equivalent of bear-baiting or dog fights and shove him into combat for entertainment. Or would they sell him as exotic food? Or worse? Matteusz didn't want to think about his fate in a place where he wasn't considered a person. 

He would find out soon enough. One of the scavengers bundled him into a small spacecraft, securing him with a collar and lead in a small hold, where Matteusz sat on the floor between crates and boxes. He was quickly uncomfortable, still gagged and restrained, and growing hungrier with every passing moment. He wasn't sure if his captors were starving him to try and make him more compliant, or if they simply didn't realise that he needed to eat. 

Time passed slowly, with nothing to distract him from his fear or his discomfort. As frightened as he was by the prospect of what might be coming, he was still almost grateful when the ship landed somewhere and the hatch at the back opened. His captor detached the lead from the ship's wall but kept Matteusz bound and gagged as he marched him down onto a bright landing pad. 

Matteusz squinted in the sudden brightness but, as his eyes adjusted, he got his first true look at an alien world. It was beautiful, with bright gardens giving way to mountains that seemed to glow in rainbow hues because of the vibrant plant life that covered everything. Trees and plants grew in shades of purple and orange, while small creatures darted between them on wings that shimmered in the sunlight. Matteusz would have loved to just stand and stare, but his captor tugged on the leash, pulling him towards a large building. White stone was decorated with more of the brilliant colours, with plants and vines growing over the outer surfaces until it looked like a shining jewel. 

The interior was decorated to match, with sparkling stones mimicking the colours outside, mosaics of gems shining from the walls. Matteusz felt like he could have gone blind from how beautiful it all was but he wasn't given a moment to admire any of it. His captor was taken down a long corridor to a huge hall lit by stained glass windows. It appeared to be some sort of throne room, with alien figures seated on raised chairs. They looked vaguely human-like, but with mottled skin and purple-blue hair, as well as strange points around their jaws. It was hard to identify their expressions as they stared at him. Were they curious? Outraged that he was a prisoner? Looking forward to eating him? 

Matteusz's captor gave a low bow. 

"Your majesty," he said, still bowing, "you do me great honour in allowing me this audience. I hope these discussions will bring a new era of trade for us all. In gratitude for your consideration, I present to you this gift, an exotic pet for your son." 

Only then did he straighten up out of his bow and tugged Matteusz forward. Matteusz glared at him and then turned at glare on the two individuals on their thrones. The slightly smaller of the two leaned forwards, looking at Matteusz more closely. Matteusz wished he could take the gag off because he longed to say a few choice words about the practice of keeping people as pets. 

"You have it restrained and muzzled," said the larger of the enthroned figures. "I do not wish to give my son a dangerous pet." 

"It is not dangerous, your majesty. Its teeth and claws are both blunt so it can do no real harm, but it is skittish in a new environment, surrounded by people it is not accustomed to. Once it has had a chance to adjust, the restraints will be unnecessary." 

Matteusz resented the description of skittishness. He had a perfectly rational dislike of being unjustly imprisoned, and he would very much have liked to say so, but any attempt to run now would probably just confirm his captor's opinion in these people's minds. He just hoped they would be more willing to listen to reason if he could get a chance to explain the situation to them. 

"Very well," the figure on the throne said. She beckoned another of her species forward. "Take this creature to my son's chambers and secure it. He may attend to the creature's needs after our meeting." 

Matteusz had no say in the matter. The new alien took hold of the lead and started pulling him away from the hall. Matteusz didn't try to run, since his hands were still bound and any real attempt at escape would have to come when he had use of his arms again. He didn't like to imagine what sort of thing a prince might want to do to a new pet.


	2. Chapter 2

The prince's chambers were more comfortable to be tied up in than the spaceship had been, but only marginally, because Matteusz was still bound and the lead attached to his collar had been attached to a fitting by one of the room's windows, too far from any of the furniture for Matteusz to sit down anywhere except the floor. He could see chairs and soft couches and what looked the most magnificent bed, but he couldn't use any of them. The floor was carpeted at least, but he was more interested in staring out the window, which overlooked a large courtyard because at least the sights out there provided marginal distraction from his impending doom.

A group of aliens were practicing some form of dance with long streamers of coloured cloth. As they danced, they wove in and out of each other, tying the streamers into bright knots and then untying them again with another series of graceful movements. Every once in while, there would clearly be a mistake because the knots wouldn't be untied properly, or the pattern would appear wrong, and then the group would have to untangle themselves and return to an earlier point in the dance to begin their practice again. Occasionally they paused for a heated discussion that he could only guess was about which of them had been the one to go wrong that time. He could just about hear bits of the music through the closed window, a strangely lilting tune that sounded like a chorus of birds in harmony and the dance, when it worked, was beautiful. 

Watching the dance was better than thinking about what his future in his world might be like, so Matteusz let himself by distracted. All the fear came rushing back though when the door to the room opened. The person who walked in looked human, which astonished Matteusz immensely. He looked like a boy of his own age, with blond hair and a gentle smile. He carried a large box which he set down on a low table a short distance from Matteusz, moving slowly and carefully, keeping his eyes and smile and Matteusz's face. Matteusz wasn't quite sure what to make of this. How could there be another human here? Would this boy help him escape? Could they get back to Earth together?

The boy picked something out of the box, a piece of fruit by the looks of it. He held the fruit out and approached Matteusz slowly, starting up a murmur of soft words as he did so, somehow managing to talk in Polish, the familiarity of the language comforting after the years of having to try and listen and think in English.

"It's alright," the boy said, "no one's going to hurt you. You're safe. I've got you something to eat. Lots of things, so we can find what you like. It'll be alright."

He spoke like one would while coaxing a frightened animal, which was no doubt what he thought Matteusz was. He stepped up to Matteusz, holding the fruit in front of his face, probably expecting him to sniff it or something. With his other hand, he reached out and touched Matteusz's hair. Matteusz did not want to be petted like a dog, but being calm was probably the fasted way to get the gag off, especially if this boy expected him to eat the fruit.

After about a minute of gentle petting and the boy murmuring, "You're alright. You're safe," the boy reached for the edge of the gag, peeling the layer off without any apparent difficulty. He quickly moved that hand away from Matteusz's mouth, but kept the one with the fruit where it was.

"I'm not an animal," Matteusz said.

The boy stumbled back a step, dropping the fruit in his surprise. He nearly crashed into the table he'd put the box on.

"You're speaking," he said.

Matteusz resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His anger at his treatment over the last day or so poured out. "No, I'm making a string of meaningless sounds that just happen to come out sounding exactly like speech."

"What?"

"I guess sarcasm isn't a thing on this planet," Matteusz said. "Yes, I can speak."

"But they said you were an animal."

"Well they were wrong. I'm a person. I'm a human, from a planet called Earth, and I haven't done anything to deserve being taken prisoner."

Matteusz was still not sure how the boy was so surprised about this, given that he looked as human as Matteusz was. Either the appearance was the most astonishing of coincidences or the boy had somehow made himself look human to try and sooth what he'd thought was a nervous animal.

"Earth," the boy said. "I've never heard of Earth." Which did not help with explaining how they were able to speak to each other.

"Well I'd never heard of this planet," Matteusz said, "and yet here we are. Can you please do something about these?"

He turned to show his bound hands. He tried to keep his tone even and polite, but it was difficult. He was hungry and tied and the hours or days since he'd been taken prisoner had not been pleasant ones. His temper was hanging by a thread. He was glad though that the boy listened to him more than his earlier captors had and came forward to undo the cuffs that had been pinning his arms behind his back. Matteusz rubbed at his wrists and rolled his shoulders, trying to ease some of the ache that had built up there. Then he reached up himself and unfastened the collar.

The boy took a few steps backwards as Matteusz released himself, putting the low table between them. Matteusz pretended not to notice that the boy was as scared of him as he'd presumably expected Matteusz to be when he'd come in.

"Food would be really good," Matteusz said. "No one's given me anything to eat or drink since they took me prisoner." He picked up the fallen fruit, inspecting it, sniffing it, and then taking a cautious bite.

It was delicious, with a flavour that was slightly sweet. More importantly, it was full of juice, which his parched mouth was grateful for. He ate it, with his hands, trying his best not to get juice all over his mouth and hands, and failing spectacularly.

"Do you have a napkin?" Matteusz asked.

"A napkin?"

"Something to clean myself." He raised a sticky hand in demonstration.

"Oh. Of course." The boy pulled a small cloth from the box and handed it over. Matteusz wiped up the mess and then moved closer to investigate what else the box might contain. He was less concern about running away now that he'd seen how this boy had reacted to him. He had been surprised, obviously, but he was clearly willing to accept that Matteusz was intelligent. If he was willing to be reasoned with, a more serious discussion about his freedom could come after he'd had something to drink.

The boy clearly hadn't known what to provide for Matteusz, because the box included a range of things, from fruits and vegetables to seeds to what looked like a pot of raw meet. Matteusz ignored that and went for a bottle of clear liquid.

"This is water?" he asked.

"Yes," the boy answered. So Matteusz opened the bottle up and drank the whole thing in seconds. His stomach gurgled a response and Matteusz wondered if he was going to make himself sick from having drunk that so quickly, but it was too late to worry about that now.

"Do you want something more to drink?" the boy asked.

"Perhaps in a little bit," Matteusz answered. He pulled what looked like a bag of nuts out of the box and again took a cautious nibble. They tasted strangely sour, so he put them back and went instead for a box of cubed, orange somethings which turned out to be much more palatable. The boy watched him eat, staring between Matteusz's hands and mouth.

"My name is Matteusz," he said after a few minutes of him eating in silence and the boy staring.

"Matteusz," the boy repeated, getting the pronunciation a lot closer than most of his classmates back on Earth had ever managed. "My name is," and here the boy made a strangled sound that made it seemed like he was choking. Matteusz looked at him in alarm. The boy attempted the noise again and then frowned. "My name is very difficult to say in this form."

"How do you look human?" Matteusz asked.

"We have a technology that allows us to take the DNA of another species and adjust our form to take on some of the physical characteristics. It can be useful in diplomatic meetings, especially if we have to visit planets where the atmosphere or other environmental factors are significantly different. It allows us to adapt to environments that our normal physical form simply wouldn't survive. In this case, I thought it would be better for you to see something more familiar. I had not anticipated the challenge of the change in vocal structure."

Matteusz wasn't sure how that made sense since they hadn't otherwise had challenges with the language, unless there was some sort of universal translator technology going on, letting him hear in Polish what was being said in an alien tongue, and the translator didn't work for names. He decided to roll with it, because he had other problems right now.

He asked, "So what should I call you? Prince?"

"Perhaps for the sake of convenience, you could use a name that is more familiar to your species. What name might a prince be called on your world?"

Matteusz thought of the British royal family. "The heir to the throne in the place where I've been living is called Prince Charles."

"Charles?" The boy tested out the sound of the name and nodded. "Yes, that could work. You can call me Charles."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to find some way to still get Charlie called Charlie despite not being on Earth.


End file.
